It's Not What it Seems
by trekhorse42
Summary: Life was great before Kat's brother came and delivered the bad news.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Tom Nook, Victoria, Ribbot, or Tom Nook's cousin Tommy. P.S. Kirk is not the Kirk off of Star Trek, I'm just using that name. Also, don't be afraid to reveiw!**

It was a quiet day in the town of Deep Grass. The sun was shining, the ocean waves were calm, and the animals and humans were enjoying themselves. Down by the beach it was crowded, since everyone wanted to cool off in the cold ocean water. That was unfortunate for the fishers, because the fish were scared away by the people and animals.

"Hey Kirk! Throw the ball over here!" I called out to my brother. Turning to face me, he held the ball on his outstretched hand then underhand served it to me. I caught it, and the ball made a solid thud in my hands.

"Come and catch me!" I yelled, taking off across the hot sand.

"Kat! I'll get you!" He cried out. I kept running even though I knew it was pointless. My brother was fast and strong, and compared to him, I was an ant and he was a lion.

Suddenly I found myself face down in the sand, with the ball rolling out of my grip. I struggled to get up, but my brother already had the ball.

"Score!" Kirk said triumphantly, holding our ball against a tall brown palm tree.

"You wish!" I replied, getting up a giving him a friendly chase, which was quickly ended.

"Whoa!" Kirk shouted as he fell to the ground on top of someone. As I ran closer, I recognized the person's face. He was my other brother, Tiberius. By the looks of it, as he and Kirk untangled themselves, Tiberius was fishing.

"Sorry bro. I didn't mean to fall on you," Kirk apologized as he helped Tiberius up.

" Yeah right. I'm fishing by the river. It's too crowded over here," He grumbled, gathering up his bucket and fishing pole. Then stalking away, he left a heavy silence between me and Kirk.

"Well, I guess I better go. I'm having Peirce over for dinner tonight," then I was left standing alone on the beach. Deciding to take a dip once more to cool off before I went home, my horse friend Victoria saw me and came and joined me in the water.

"Hi. Do you want to have a swim race?" The light brown horse wearing a checkered red and yellow swim suit top asked me.

"Sorry, I'm really tired," I replied, which was the truth.

"Drat. No one will race me! After I've practiced for weeks and am ready to race, no one else is! They've all said they've stopped for the day, or are going back home, or are doing something else!" Victoria pouted. Quickly thinking of a comforting and true response I said,

"I bet all of them are afraid to lose! They've seen you practicing and don't want you to whip their butts!" My best friend and I fell into the water, laughing.

"I bet you're right Kat!" Then after the giggling stopped, and we climbed out onto the hot sand, Victoria asked, "Can I come over to your place for dinner?"

"Sure. I'm going to have to do something first, if you don't mind." I answered, drying off with my towel and sliding my flip-flops on.

"Ok. I'll see you at your house at six exactly, star girl." Victoria nickered, then trotted off. I smiled, remembering when we first met and she gave me that nickname.

Hurriedly packing my towel in my over-the-shoulder bag, I strode away from the beach and to the forest, where I knew the trees would greet me. When I reached the forest, where my home was, I slowed down, relaxing under the shade that the tall pine trees produced.

"Kat! I have something for you!" A voice called out from behind. I spun around and found myself standing face to face with Ribbot, an odd robot like creature. Quickly, he shoved a box into my hands, then ran off before I could say anything.

Turning the box in my hands, I saw a tag that said, _To Maple_.

"Ribbot, wait!" I yelled. But it was too late, he was long gone. Shrugging, I looked at the small white box one more time before I shoved it in my bag and continued home.

"So he just gave you the box then left?" Victoria asked, spearing a tomato with her fork.

"Yeah. You know how he is," I said, after telling her the event that happened on my way home.

"Hmm. Maybe he's giving a box to everyone, but he gave you the wrong one."

"Yeah," I considered the possibility, but it didn't seem likely. Ribbot didn't just go handing out gifts.

The rest of dinner went without another word until Victoria left and I cleaned up the table and washed dishes. When I finished, I saw it was too early to go to bed so I stuck a DVD in the player. It was a Star Trek movie. Hitting play, I settled down onto the couch to watch the battle of the _Enterprise._

When I woke up sunlight was streaming in through my second story window. I groggily looked at my clock, then jolted out of bed. I was going to be late for work! Quickly I grabbed my light blue shirt and black shorts. After changing I scrambled down the stairs and snagged my bag, but stopped when I realized my stuff from yesterday was in it. Grabbing my towel I put it on the dinner table and grabbed a banana from a fruit bowl then bolted out the door.

Panting when I reached Nook's, I checked my watch. Right on time. If I took any longer I would have been late. Disposing the banana peel in the trash, I took a seat at the cash register and waited for business to start.

Work went on as usual, and by lunch break, I was starving. Letting Tommy, Nook's cousin, take my place, I went into the backroom and sat at the table. Pulling open my bag, I was shocked when I saw it was empty. Except for… the box. Taking it out, I placed it on the table and dropped my bag on the floor. I was just about to open it when I heard the door behind me creak open. I craned my neck to see who it was, and I was shocked to see it was my moody brother, Tiberius!

"What are you doing here?" I asked him, stunned. Before he answered, he rubbed the back of his neck, below his spiky black hair-line.

"Well, I need to tell you something." He replied, sitting down in the chair next to me, placing a plastic bag filled with what I thought was food, in front of him.

"What? Come on, Tiberius, spit it out!" I urged him.

"Well," he took a deep breath, then looked me in the eye. "Kirk's gone."


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Peirce.**

"What?! Like, dead?" I sputtered, grabbing onto my brother's strong shoulders.

"No. But he might as well be," my brother said, his voice shaking slightly.

"What happened?" I asked, my voice weak; scared.

"I'm not sure. The police said he was having dinner with Peirce, but just, _disappeared _in the middle of dinner. The police still can't figure out anything." His voice cracked, and I managed to whisper,

"What?" Before I buried my face in my older brother's chest and cried in confusion and pain.

When I pulled myself together, the front of my brother's shirt was wet with my tears.

"Hey, it's about time you pulled yourself together." Tiberius said kindly. "Let me go ask Nook if you can take the rest of the day off and spend it at my house." Then Tiberius got up and left me sitting in the room, wondering what the heck happened.

A few minutes later he came back told me,"Come on, let's go." I grabbed our bags and we left the shop and headed to Tiberius's house.

"I haven't eaten lunch yet," I said as we passed the food shop.

"Don't worry, there's food in that bag you're carrying." He pointed to the bag I was holding.

"Oh."

When we arrived at his house, he led me to his small kitchen.

"So what Peirce told the police was that they were eating dinner and sitting across from each other. They were talking and Peirce says he was watching Kirk while he explained something. Then Kirk's voice was gone and so was he." Tiberius explained, repeating what he had been told earlier.

"So our brother just… vanished?" I said, spreading my arms out in front of me. Tiberius nodded gravely.

"But that's impossible! People don't just disappear!" I cried out, frustrated. There was a knock on the door. My brother got up to answer it and I pawed around in the bag with food, even though I wasn't hungry anymore.

When my brother came back into the room, he had someone with him. It was an eagle, with thick black wings and a shining white head.

"Hi Peirce," I said gloomily. My brother glared at me. He was a stickler for manners, despite how moody and gloomy he was all the time.

"Hey Kat. I'm sorry if you're mad at me. I don't have a clue what happened to Kirk."

"Don't be sorry," I snapped.

"Hey, stop it, both of you. I asked Peirce over so he could help us," Tiberius growled, sounding like a bear. Then he motioned for Peirce to sit down, which the eagle did. Once everyone was settled around the table, the plan was laid down.

"Alright. Peirce will tell us about every detail of what happened. Then we'll ask some questions, and come up with possibilities no matter how impossible they seem. Deal?" We shook our head and the story began.

"I went over to Kirk's house and when I got there dinner had just been plated. It was carp, which he had caught the previous day. We sat down and started eating while we talked. It was ten minutes later when we started talking about the universe. Kirk was explaining black holes to me, because I asked; you see. So he was talking and I was watching him, then he… wasn't there. I don't know! He glittered for a tenth of a second then was gone!" Peirce ended exasperated. I shook my head, thinking it was hopeless. What was there to ask?

"Did Kirk say anything about feeling ill or not feeling well?" Tiberius asked, reminding me of a detective that you might see in movies.

"No. He didn't look ill either." The eagle replied.

"Was he holding a fork or silverware when he disappeared?"

"No, it was on his plate."

"What did you do after he disappeared?" My brother fired questions at Kirk's friend. I sat, amazed that Kirk would even think of some questions. When Tiberius stopped, we had barely gotten anywhere. On an almost blank page in a notebook only a few words were written. Then after Peirce was dismissed, Tiberius's attention turned to me.

"Tiberius, it's hopeless. We haven't gotten anywhere." I told him.

"Oh yes we have. You just don't appreciate it enough to see it. Tomorrow we'll gather evidence." My crazed brother replied before I was shooed away.

Once at home I gobbled up dinner and sat on the couch to watch Star Trek for the second day in a row.

The episode I watched was where the captain of the ship got taken hostage and the first officer had to fight a bunch of ships that outnumbered them 5 to 1. They also had to make sure they didn't destroy the ships, which would kill the captain if they did. In the end it was a good episode that slightly reminded me of the situation at hand.

Getting into my night clothes, I got into bed and snuggled up, then fell into a deep, restless dream.

There was Kirk, in a sterile gray room, sitting on a metal bench in a prison cell of some sort. He looked lost, confused, tired, hurt. He looked like something had sucked all the life out of him. I stepped closer, then realized there was what seemed to be a force field in place, keeping Kirk in the cell. When he saw me he struggled to get up, but his weak legs refused to hold his muscular body. Falling to the floor, I saw fresh, deep gashes on his face. Dark brown hair flopped over his eyes, making him look unkempt, disposable.

"The box," Kirk whispered, his breath raspy and dry, hissing like a snake.


	3. Chapter 3

"Beep! Beep! Beep!" I struggled to sit up and turn my alarm off. I had the most disturbing dream last. It was about Kirk… shaking my head, I focused on the day ahead of me instead of some silly dream.

_"The box."_ Those two words haunted me throughout the morning. When I was ready to leave for work, my cell phone began ringing. Quickly picking it up, I answered,

"Hello?"

"Hey. It's Tiberius." I frowned in confusion.

"Oh. Is something wrong?" I asked, worried.

"No. I just wanted to let you know I called Nook earlier."

"What? Why?!" I almost yelled.

"Chill, I just wanted to ask him if you could work part time today," Tiberius responded casually.

"Let me guess. He said no."

"Why do you think I called you, Kat? He said yes." My brother replied like I was stupid, which I assure you, I am not.

"Tiberius! I need to get paid! It's not your job interfering with my work!" I cried out, enraged. But it was too late, he had already hung up. Grumbling and realizing I had almost forgot my lunch, I went to find it. It was sitting on the counter beside the sink, next to the box that Ribbot had gave me.

Strange. I swear I left the box on the coffee table . Oh well. I grabbed my lunch and headed off to work. On the way there I ran into Peirce.

"Hey, where are you going?" The eagle said as he strolled up to me.

"Work."

"Oh. Do you want to race?" I considered how far I had yet to go. I was just passed Peirce's house, and Nookington's was almost dead ahead.

"Sure," I replied, removing my bag from my back and gripping it firmly in my hand.

"Ready," I bent my knees. "Set," I lowered myself and summoned all my energy to the task at hand. It wouldn't matter if I lose to Peirce, he was one of the best athletes in town. "Go!" I sprinted forward, gaining speed with each step I took. Then, all too soon, the finish arrived. Stopping, I turned, expecting to see Peirce to have already beat me. But, to my dismay, he was still running. When he pulled up beside me, he was panting. Unusual, since he was a great athlete.

"Come on. You don't have to let me win," I smirked, knowing I'd caught him in the act.

"You… did… win, I… didn't just… let you… I wouldn't… lose if my… life depended on… it." Peirce replied in between breaths. Huh? A black pit started growing in my stomach.

"Um… bye." I said as I strode into the two storied building.

"Good morning, Kat! I got your station all ready for you." I was greeted by a cheerful raccoon wearing an apron over his pants. I thanked him as he trotted away, then turned to the cash register and took a seat behind the counter.

With an hour left in my shift, and no one coming in, I gazed around the shop with bleary eyes. I hadn't gotten much sleep last night, and when I did, I dreamt of my brother in some sort of prison cell. Suddenly, jerking me awake, I realized my phone was ringing. I glanced around to see if anyone was near, then pulled out my phone and silenced it. The rules of the workers were that phones had to be off.

Weird. My phone said Victoria was trying to call me.

"Ding!" I looked up when the bell above the door rang. It was Frigia, a penguin with amazing fashion designer taste.

"Hello," I said, my usual routine taking over.

"Hi," Friga browsed around, poking stuff on the tables.

"Is there something I can help you with?"I asked, sounding bored.

"No," she strolled around the shop, looking at the flower seeds, saplings, and stationary. I sat back in my seat, uninterested. Soon she came to the check-out, with nothing in her flippers.

"Is there something bothering you?" Friga asked me, seemingly uninterested.

"I'm doing my job, not answering personal questions." I replied, impatient. Friga left without a word. Realizing I had just snapped, I took a deep, calming breath, then gathered my emotions, reining them into a controlled state. The rest of the hour passed without incident.

At last my brother came by, signaling the end of my shift. Wishing farewell to Tom Nook, I left the store with my brother.

"Fish for dinner and lunch," he declared.

"What?" Fish for lunch was fine, but for dinner too? Gross!

"I'm just kidding. We can have fruit for dinner instead." I gave a sigh of relief. Just what was Tiberius planning?

At last we reached his house. On the inside, it was chaos.

The usual neat, tidy house was in ruins. All around me was paper: crumbled up paper, blank lined paper, blank printer paper, you name it, it was there. And the notebooks were piled on the dinner table, and on the couch in the next room over. Bags containing food and other random items were stacked on the counter around the sink and stove.

"Tiberius!"

"What?" He said, innocently. "Finding our brother is important work." Then my brother left the room and came back with a paper in his hand.

_Unusual Happenings_

_Kirk disappearing_

"Do you have anything to add?" I nodded my head and wrote:

_Box with To: Maple_

_Unusual Speed_

_Phone moving (?)_

Tiberius took the paper and read it.

"Where'd you get this box from?"

"Ribbot, " Then off we went to Ribbot's house.

When we got there the lights in his house were off and a note on his door said he was out.

"Tiberius, I'm tired. Can we stop at my house to rest?" I complained. Suddenly, he shot me a look that said this is important, but quickly he gave in and nodded. So we went into the forest under the lush green pines to my house. On the way I asked,

"Do you really think we will find him?" My brother replied, but it wasn't what I thought he'd say.

"Probably not. All we're doing is playing pretend detectives. We should just let the real detectives do the work." He sounded lost, hopeless, and as if reality was settling in. I desperately wanted to help him, to give him hope but all I could do was give him a hug.

We stood outside of my house for a long time; at least it felt like we did. We went in when dark clouds began to cover the sky and rain started falling


	4. Chapter 4

"Beep! Beep! Beep!" I struggled to sit up and turn my alarm off. I had the most disturbing dream last night. It was about Kirk… shaking my head, I focused on the day ahead of me instead of some silly dream.

_"The box."_ Those two words haunted me throughout the morning. When I was ready to leave for work, my cell phone began ringing. Quickly picking it up, I answered,

"Hello?"

"Hey. It's Tiberius." I frowned in confusion.

"Oh. Is something wrong?" I asked, worried.

"No. I just wanted to let you know I called Nook earlier."

"What? Why?!" I almost yelled.

"Chill, I just wanted to ask him if you could work part-time today," Tiberius responded casually.

"Let me guess. He said no."

"Why do you think I called you, Kat? He said yes." My brother replied like I was stupid, which I assure you, I am not.

"Tiberius! I need to get paid! It's not your job interfering with my work!" I cried out, enraged. But it was too late, he had already hung up. Grumbling and realizing I had almost forgot my lunch, I went to find it. It was sitting on the counter beside the sink, next to the box that Ribbot had gave me.

Strange. I swear I left the box on the coffee table . Oh well. I grabbed my lunch and headed off to work. On the way there I ran into Peirce.

"Hey, where are you going?" The eagle said as he strolled up to me.

"Work."

"Oh. Do you want to race?" I considered how far I had yet to go. I was just passed Peirce's house, and Nookington's was dead ahead.

"Sure," I replied, removing my bag from my back and gripping it firmly in my hand.

"Ready." I bent my knees. "Set." I lowered myself and summoned all my energy to the task at hand. I told myself it was ok if I lost to Peirce, he one of the best athletes in town. "Go!" I sprinted forward, gaining speed with each step I took. Then, all too soon, the finish arrived. Stopping, I turned, expecting to see Peirce to have already beat me. But, to my dismay, he was still running. When he pulled up beside me, he was panting. Unusual, since he was a great athlete.

"Come on. You don't have to let me win." I smirked, knowing I'd caught him in the act.

"You… did… win, I… didn't just… let you… I wouldn't… lose if my… life depended on… it." Peirce replied between breaths. Huh? A black pit started growing in my stomach.

"Um… bye." I said as I strode into the two-storied building.

"Good morning, Kat! I got your station all ready for you." I was greeted by a cheerful raccoon wearing an apron over his pants. I thanked him as he trotted away, then turned to the cash register and took a seat behind the counter.

With an hour left in my shift, and no one coming in, I gazed around the shop with bleary eyes. I hadn't gotten much sleep last night, and when I did, my brother plagued my dreams. Suddenly, jerking me awake, I realized my phone was ringing. I glanced around to see if anyone was near, then pulled out my phone and silenced it. The rules of the workers were that phones had to be off.

Weird. My phone said Victoria was trying to call me.

"Ding!" I looked up when the bell above the door rang. It was Friga, a penguin with fashion designer taste.

"Hello," I said, my usual routine taking over.

"Hi." Friga browsed around, poking stuff on the tables.

"Is there something I can help you with?"I asked, sounding bored.

"No." She strolled around the shop, looking at the flower seeds, saplings, and stationary. I sat back in my seat, uninterested. Soon she came to the check-out, with nothing in her flippers.

"Is there something bothering you?" Friga asked me, seemingly uninterested.

"I'm doing my job, not answering personal questions." I replied, impatient. Friga left without a word. Realizing I had just snapped, I took a deep, calming breath, then gathered my emotions, reining them into a controlled state. The rest of the hour passed without incident.

At last my brother came by, signaling the end of my shift. Wishing farewell to Tom Nook, I left the store with my brother.

"Fish for dinner and lunch," he declared.

"What?" Fish for lunch was fine, but for dinner too? Too much fish!

"I'm just kidding. We can have fruit for dinner instead." I gave a loud sigh, relief seeping out of me. Just what was Tiberius planning?

At last we reached his house. On the inside it was chaos.

The usually neat, tidy house was in ruins. All around me was paper: crumbled up paper, blank lined paper, blank printer paper, you name it, it was there. And notebooks were piled on the dinner table, and the couch in the next room over. Bags containing food and other random items were stacked on the counter around the sink and stove.

"Tiberius!"

"What?" He said, innocently. "Finding our brother is important work." Then my brother left the room and came back with a paper in his hand.

_Unusual Happenings_

_Kirk disappearing_

"Do you have anything to add?" I nodded my head and wrote:

_Box with To: Maple_

_Unusual Speed_

_Box moving (?)_

Tiberius took the paper and read it.

"Where'd you get this box from?"

"Ribbot, " Then off we went to Ribbot's house.

When we got there the lights in his house were off and a note on his door said he was out.

"Tiberius, I'm tired. Can we stop at my house to rest?" I complained. Suddenly, he shot me a look that said this is important, but quickly he gave in and nodded. So we went into the forest under the lush green pines to my house. On the way I asked,

"Do you really think we will find him?" My brother replied, but it wasn't what I thought he'd say.

"Probably not. All we're doing is playing pretend detectives. We should just let the real detectives do the work." He sounded lost, hopeless, and as if reality was settling in. I desperately wanted to help him, give him hope, but all I could do was give him a hug.

We stood outside of my house for a long time; at least it felt like we did. We went in when dark clouds began to cover the sky and rain started falling.


	5. Chapter 5

Hours passed at my house. Resting turned into thinking and pacing. It kept raining. We were trapped. It turned to night. Then morning. I didn't go to work. I didn't call in. Tiberius begged me to stay, to stay here, in my own house. He claimed he almost figured it out, and I believed him; no matter how many times he said it. I believed him. My house soon turned into what his own house had become. I began thinking he only came to my house because he ran out of space at his. Time started to blend together, and I always found myself staring at the box, wondering what was in it. Thinking… just open it! But I couldn't pull myself to do it.

"For Kirk," I said, and then reached for the box, sliding the ribbon off. Then quickly, and more forcefully than needed, I yanked the top off.

I did it. I did it. I did it. The words raced through my mind. Shaking, I picked up a small folded piece of paper from inside the box. It read:

Kat,

Life goes further than you think. Sometimes it goes too far. It stretches on, past the known and possible, and what is considered something that will never change. Now is one of those times. Be awa

I was mystified. So he must have labeled the box wrong. But the last two words- what did they mean? Be awa? I scanned the letter again, studying the end. Maybe… he didn't finish writing?

Ribbot was writing the letter, and then began doing something else, and thinking he finished the letter, he packed it up and gave it to me, not realizing it wasn't finished.

Putting the letter aside, I picked up the object inside the box and unwrapped the paper that was around it. It looked like a star. I flipped it over, expecting to see a pin, but saw nothing. Odd.

"Tiberius?" I called uncertainly.

"What?"

"I think I have a mystery." Soon Tiberius was at my side, looking at the pin, or whatever it was.

"We definitely have to find Ribbot now," so we abandoned our work and strode down towards the beach, stopping when we came to his house. On the door was a sign, saying he was still out and about. I started to walk away, expecting my brother to be next to me, but came to a sudden halt when I realized he wasn't there.

"Kat, we need to split up."

"What?"

"I have to stay here in case he comes back. You have to search the town to find him." The teenager repeated.

"But the town is huge! How can I find him?" I cried out in shock.

"Get your friends to help you. But just go." So I took off at a steady jog towards the break in the cliff where it became a hill.

I arrived at Victoria's house, not even panting. Once again, weird.

"Victoria! Open up!" I yelled as I pounded on her door.

"What?!" The door flew open and there stood my best friend Victoria, rattled, looking like she just found a spider in her house, her worst enemy.

"We need to find Ribbot, now."

"Why?" She protested, sounding disappointed.

"Because he might know where my brother is!"

"Ok," She reluctantly replied. "Where do we start?"

"First we need to ask the townsfolk if they've seen him. So I'll take the other side of the river and you can take this side."

"Ok, meet by the town hall when you finish."

"Deal." We parted ways and I went over the bridge to find the nearest house. When I came across it, I knocked on the door. Friga answered.

Friga was dressed up in clothes that I couldn't even think about buying. She explained she was going to the city, and then I asked her the question. Her answer was no. So I left and found Peirce's house. He was outside tending to his garden. I asked him and his answer was also no.

Down the hill I went, to the last house on the west side of the river. The house belonged to Bob, a purple cat. When I rang the doorbell it took a while for him to answer. When he did answer, he looked dazed. I asked him if he'd seen Ribbot lately. He was the first animal who didn't say no.

"About two days ago. He always walks by my house on his way to the food mart. He hasn't since then, though."

"About two days ago?"

"Yep," then the door closed and I walked up the hill, crossed the bridge, and when I arrived, Victoria was waiting.

"What took you so long?" She whinnied.

"Nothing. Sorry. I was just being slow."

"Well I didn't find any information. No one had seen him." Victoria said, getting to the point.

"Same here. But Bob said the last time he saw Ribbot was two days ago." I replied.

"Oh. Well you'd better text your brother." Victoria said after a minute.

"Yeah." So I pulled out my phone and slid the keyboard out, then began texting the unfortunate news. He immediately texted back, telling me to meet him at my house.

"I'd better get going, Victoria. See you later." I walked off, my feet padding in the grass. Suddenly, I felt a… hoof on my shoulder.

"Wait. I'm coming with you."

"Victoria, really. I've got to go." I insisted.

"This is as much of my business as it is yours."

"Fine." I gave in, seeing no way of convincing her not to come.

"Kat, really, we don't have any time for nonsense." Tiberius growled when he saw Victoria standing in the doorway with me.

"She didn't bring me. I came by myself." The brown horse said, taking a step forward.

"Whatever. Just stay out of the way."

"No. I'm helping." My friend protested.

"You're not-" My brother was cut off when Victoria took yet one last step forward and shoved my brother, hard, causing him to fall to the ground.

Tiberius was silent, not complaining or arguing.

"We need to look over all the plans I've made and double-check them to see if they will work. Now go." He ordered, not accepting nor rejecting Victoria. So we set off to work, gathering the papers on the floor and taking a seat on the couch.


	6. Chapter 6

It was late at night, probably about midnight. Victoria and I had just finished looking through all the papers, without a break. I couldn't decide whether half of them could work, or if they were even possible. But anyways, now that that was over with both of us were in my room, sleeping. At least one of us. Victoria was snoring from her place on the floor, while I was laying awake, trying to sleep.

Tiberius's plans swirled in my head, confusing me, making me want nothing more than to knock some sense into him. Then, at last, despite how confused I was, I fell into a deep, deep, deep sleep.

I could feel the light burning into my eyes, even though they were closed. I raised my hand to cover my eyes, but it didn't help. Rolling onto my side, I slowly opened one eye, then the other.

The first thing I noticed, besides the light, was that I happened to be laying on cold metal. So without removing my hand from above my eyes, I sat up and looked around the room.

There was one other metal table like the one I was on, and laying on it was Tiberius.

I began to get off the table I was on, and as I slid to the floor I felt lighter somehow, as it the gravity wasn't as strong.

"Tiberius." I said, shaking my brother by the shoulder.

"What… where are we?" He said, squinting his eyes, trying to see past the blinding light.

"I'm not sure… maybe we could get out?"What my brother said next wasn't relevant to what I had just said.

"Wow. Not like I'd know it, but this feels a lot like… artificial gravity." Tiberius stated, jumping off the table and landing gently on his feet.

"So how do we get out?" I asked again.

"That way." He said, pointing to a large door on the one wall I hadn't noticed before.

"Ok." We stepped up to the door. It was a shiny smooth metal with no doorknob. I hesitantly touched it, and Tiberius attempted to push it open, both ways. The door didn't budge, and I was left with the feel of a jailed prisoner.

"What do we do?" I asked rather hopelessly.

"Well… try those plans I made."

"What plans? We're not at home!" I cried out, thinking my brother was crazy.

"The alien abduction plans. But we take them one step further." Before I could reply, my brother said, "Door, open." Almost magically the door slid open, revealing a corridor.

"Let's go." The area the door opened to was a hallway, lined with more doors.

"Which door do we choose?"

"None, we walk down the corridor until it ends. Then we go through that door." Tiberius stated.

"Ok." I shrugged my shoulders and followed my brother.

The corridor thankfully did have an end, and it didn't circle around the entire… building or ship. Whatever we were trapped in.

When we came to the door and stepped inside, we were in something that resembled an elevator. My brother, fully confident, ordered, "Bridge." That was when I got suspicious.

"How do you know exactly what to do?" I asked as the elevator whirred to life.

"Come on, don't you see the connection?" Tiberius asked plainly. "Star Trek? Hint hint?"

Then it hit me. Tiberius had no idea what he was doing, but since it seemed so much like Star Trek, he was going off of that. I stood, disturbed that everything seemed to be working _too_ well. I forgot about the fact that we were about to see our first look at an alien when the elevator stopped.

The whirring faded away, and the grey doors slid open. Standing in front of Tiberius and me was an alien.

In fact, the alien didn't really look like an alien, which was creepier than if he did look nothing like he did.

"Hello," the alien's voice was crackly, and it almost sounded like a machine, which was what it could have been. On the alien's left arm, shoulder, and thigh and part of its face were what appeared to be metal implants. Other than that, the alien could have been human.

"We have your brother," the alien stepped aside and revealed the rest of the bridge. Sure enough, Kirk was standing in the center if the bridge, with a smile on his face.

"You won't believe this place, it's awesome! But before I say anything else, do you have the pin that Ribbot gave you?"

What? How did my brother know about that? "Uh, no… I don't."

"Check your pockets."

I shoved my hands in my pockets, positive I wasn't going to find anything. I was surprised when I felt cool metal brush against my fingers. I pulled the small object out of my pocket. "This?"

Kirk nodded and walked over to me. "It might be hard to explain… or to accept. But I think you can handle it, sis," Kirk took the pin out of my hand and handed it to one of the aliens. "Ribbot's a spy, and he really comes from the world these guys are from," Kirk motioned to the almost human looking aliens.

"But Ribbot doesn't look anything like them!" I cried out, confused.

"I know he doesn't. As kids they get these metal implants that cover the entire body. After they pass, well, thirty years according to our years, they begin losing the implants. So that's why Ribbot doesn't look like them, at least not yet."

Now it was Tiberius's turn to ask a question. "Why do they need spies?"

"It's not spies exactly… let Korg explain."

The alien that greeted me and Tiberius stepped forward and began talking. "Ribbot isn't a spy, or at least he isn't anymore. When we first sent him to your planet it was just so he could gather information about your civilization and send it back to us. But while on this mission we assigned him, he made friends. Soon he didn't want to leave. We let him stay, under one condition, that every one of your planet's years he would report to us with information he had gathered and learned.

"This time was different. He wanted to show one of his most trusted friends the truth. Apparently your brother, Kirk, is just that."

After having a tour of the ship and learning more about this alien species that called themselves the Bugs, it was time to go. It seemed as if the time had come too soon. The aliens were nice, and the ship was amazing. The pin I had gotten from Ribbot was actually something like a tracking device, and that's how they knew where I was when it was time to bring me aboard. As for Tiberius... I wasn't sure about that part.

I leaned back and felt the sand rearrange it's form to compensate for my movement. Above, the stars glittered and danced and the half-moon watched me, making sure I was still there.

"Star gazing?" I heard Kirk sit in the sand next to me.

"Yeah. I don't think I'll ever look at the night sky the same again."

"I know what you mean." The waves lapped slowly and softly on the shore, causing the reflections of the stars to play around, and making every one look like a flying saucer skipping through the night sky. I wondered if any of those reflections really were flying saucers, flying through the galaxy, watching other worlds like they did our planet.


End file.
